


With Telegrams or Thunder

by thatsayouproblem



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Miscommunication, Pining, canon AU, eternal tsukuyomi, i think it could also be canon divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 22:02:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14757114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsayouproblem/pseuds/thatsayouproblem
Summary: In which there is some miscommunication.





	With Telegrams or Thunder

Kakashi and Iruka get married a year before the fourth shinobi war. Kakashi is the one who proposes, and they sign their papers one day in their uniforms without a witness, without much fanfare at all. And so Iruka figures their marriage is just another thing Kakashi decided on a whim so he doesn’t take it too seriously.

Kakashi never does get around to asking what life Iruka lived in the eternal tsukuyomi, and Iruka never offers that information up. No one in the village has noticed they’re married, or even that they’re dating. Kakashi figures if Iruka wanted a matching set of rings to wear that Iruka would’ve have mentioned it by now. _It’s better to keep our relationship quiet anyway_ , Kakashi thinks. _Since Iruka is mostly village bound as an academy sensei, he would be the one facing the brunt of the gossip. He would be bothered if people found out._

Kakashi becomes the Rokudaime during a particularly cold autumn. Iruka spends his spare time working as one of his aids. Kakashi is touchy about personal space--especially in public--and Iruka never infringes on his boundaries, not even in their respective homes. Iruka tries to act like the fact that they’re married and still live in seperate places--Iruka in his apartment and Kakashi, recently, moved back into the Hatake compound, but before that a sparse place in the jounin barracks--doesn’t bother him. A part of Iruka desperately wishes that Kakashi would at least hold his hand or even be willing to take him out on a date in a public area, but Iruka knows the Rokudaime is busy, and even before Kakashi’s promotion he knows that all he’s ever been is a convenience to Kakashi. Their wedding had barely been a wedding at all. Iruka knows it’d be selfish to ask for more. If he becomes too troublesome, Kakashi would probably find someone else. With how their marriage nuptials went, Iruka imagines the divorce would be too easy to commit to as well.

Kakashi loves the days when he finishes work early and gets to go stop by Iruka’s place while it’s still not too late into the evening. He’ll never say it aloud, but he loves to cuddle up next to Iruka under the kotatsu while the chunin grades papers. Kakashi cherishes those quiet afternoons. He would love to live together with Iruka, but he knows that while Iruka’s apartment is relatively near the academy, the Hatake-compound is on the other side of Konoha. Kakashi knows with the early morning Iruka has teaching pre-genin and the late nights working with him as an aid, Iruka deserves as much sleep as he can get. However, Kakashi can’t seem to completely tamp down on the small part of him that decided to move into the Hatake-compound and begin cleaning it up enough to make it habitable again for a family. Afterall, Kakashi knows Iruka loves children and well, Konoha is never short of orphans to adopt.

Iruka knows he is expendable to the village and to Kakashi, he’s just a chunin sensei after all. He loves Kakashi, fiercely, so much that his husband’s nonchalance about their relationship is a sharp ache in his ribcage. Iruka knows enough to assume that Kakashi regrets their marriage, and that his husband thinks of him as a relative burden, or at the very least just a warm body to fuck. Regardless of these things, Iruka firmly believes that having even a little of Kakashi makes it worth it.

Kakashi loves Iruka. Seeing Iruka and getting to spend time with him is what Kakashi looks forward to most of all while spending long hours trawling through the endless duties he has as hokage. Although Kakashi never says it, he knows Iruka knows, how could he not notice the way Kakashi looks at him. Kakashi has been smitten with him ever since Iruka had yelled at him during the Chunin-exams.

Iruka is working as one of the hokage’s aids when the assassination attempt happens. Iruka knows rationally that Kakashi will be fine without him, the village will be fine without him, it’s something he’s spent some time thinking about. But he also knows he would be the farthest thing from fine without Kakashi.

The majority of the fight happens in a blur, it is only him and Kakashi working late in the hokage’s office when the windows shatter and five enemy ninja in head to toe black, their faces masked with no visible hitai-ate, land neatly inside of the office. Iruka is competent enough, and even though he’s an academy sensei he makes sure to not let his combat skills fall into disuse.  However, the shinobi attacking them are at least S-rank nin. Iruka can tell even Kakashi is more wary than usual. _Block, dodge. Throw a kunai. Hand sign. Suiton._ Iruka falls into the rhythm of the fight. The battle, itself, lasts only a minute or so, but Iruka can feel the strain the longer it lasts. He and Kakashi are outnumbered, and for all Kakashi is a living legend, it’s five highly-skilled enemy ninja against the two of them. Hopefully they can hold out until someone notices and sends help. The battle comes to a climax when Iruka watches one of the would-be-assassins begin weaving a genjutsu. There’s something strange about the hand signs being used that Iruka can’t place though. Kakashi is preoccupied with the two other remaining nin, the last of the five are two corpses lying limp on the ground having been dispatched in the first half of the fight. Iruka can tell before the jutsu is finished that the nin is aiming for Kakashi, who is by far the bigger threat, and that Kakashi is not going to not have enough time dodge without at least being injured by the other two ninja. In the moment before the genjutsu is released, its-- its not really much of a choice for Iruka. To him, there’s only one course of action.

Iruka throws himself in front of the strange jutsu that the enemy sends toward Kakashi, and he hits the floor. He can feel the effects of the jutsu almost instantaneously, all the strength immediately drains from his body, and his head feels like it is suddenly been filled with cotton. His view of the room begins to flicker. The last thing he remembers is the blue flicker of chidori filling the room, the crackling of ozone, and the smell of burning flesh before his vision clouds over.

Kakashi almost loses it when he sees Iruka’s body hit the wooden floors of the Hokage’s office with a muted thud. The room is filled with the fluttering of his chidori and he takes down the remaining three enemy nin in a haze of all-consuming anger. He drops to the floor, he can feel himself shaking. Iruka is unresponsive, lying too still in front of him. Kakashi cradles Iruka’s head in his lap, and after a moment, he gains the presence of mind to summon Pakkun who he immediately sends to go get help and medical attention for Iruka. Kakashi is numb. He can feel the adrenaline still coursing through his body, the rush at odds with the upwelling of some unnamable cold emotion that grows stronger the longer he stares at Iruka’s motionless form. Kakashi gazes down at Iruka’s face, and even as the room fills with the commotion of yelling medical nin and ANBU, he cannot bring himself to move.

Iruka doesn’t wake up. It has been a week and the medical nin say there is nothing wrong with his body, but the chunnin’s mind remains unresponsive. Kakashi visits everyday. He sits in one of the hard uncomfortable hospital chairs he drags next Iruka’s bedside, lightly gripping one of Iruka’s clammy hands in his own warmer grasp. Kakashi is careful not to be seen by the medical staff; assuming that Iruka still prefers their relationship to be kept private from Konoha. He’s even later than usual to his job as hokage. He spends the mornings after he visits the memorial and late into the evenings, clutching Iruka’s limp hand in his. Silently waiting for Iruka to finally wake up. Every morning, he listens anxiously to Tsunade’s daily reports on Iruka’s condition, but it does not change.

After another week of Kakashi’s increasingly despondent behavior, Tsunade delivers the news to him.

“He’s trapped in a genjutsu similar to the eternal tsukuyomi,” Tsunade says. “From what we can tell it is designed to entrap the user in an illusion in the same way by letting them live in their ideal world. The Yamanaka and their mind jutsu have had trouble probing his mind, but I believe you might be able to rescue Iruka with the use of the sharingan.”

“Of course. Anything to help him.” Kakashi replies, his heart pounding.

“Alright, we can begin now if you’re ready. I’ll call in Inouchi to explain what you have to do here.”

Iruka knows in his gut that something is off. He can’t quite put his finger on it though, so he figures it might just be a passing bout of paranoia. There isn’t much trouble in Konoha these days, and he’s content especially since Kakashi has had more time to spend at home with him in the Hatake compound ever since Naruto became the nanadaime. He takes the gold band off his finger and sets it aside while he washes the vegetables he’s planning on cooking for dinner. After accidentally dropping his engagement ring down the sink (Kakashi had to call a plumber to help them retrieve it from the pipes in the end) Iruka has learned his lesson.

Iruka sometimes feels like he should go and take a mission because although he’s an academy sensei, he is still technically an active shinobi. But every time he wanders over to the mission desk or towards the exit of Konoha’s gates, Kakashi chooses that time to find him. Often times, his husband will grab Iruka’s hand and drag him to look at the new icha icha novel that’s been released, or he’ll give Iruka a quick peck on the mouth before taking him out to lunch somewhere and all thought of leaving the village leaves Iruka’s mind for awhile.

Kakashi feels the tug on his chakra as the sharingan whirs in his skull, he follows the hand signs Inouchi performs and then takes a deep breath and slips into the illusion that grips Iruka’s mind. He has never asked Iruka about what he experienced in the tsukiyomi, and Kakashi is a little interested to see what his husband’s ideal world is. Iruka hardly asks anything of Kakashi; it makes Kakashi wish he could spoil his beloved husband at least a little more. Hopefully, this ordeal could at least give Kakashi an idea of what do to do for he and Iruka’s upcoming wedding anniversary.

Since the apartment Iruka lives in is empty and devoid of everything except dust when he inspects it, it takes Kakashi a little bit of searching to find Iruka. When Kakashi finds him, Iruka is writing up what appears to be a lesson plan as he lounges in a faded blue yukata on the back porch of the Hatake compound. Kakashi stares at his husband who looks content and happy in a way he hasn’t seen in the real world in some time. His heart clenches a little. The past two weeks without Iruka have been long and he craves Iruka’s company outside the context of the hospital. Iruka picks up the cup of tea he has beside him, and Kakashi notices the glint of gold curled around Iruka’s finger. Kakashi’s stomach drops, and something he had not dared think about crosses his mind. What if in Iruka’s ideal world, he’s married to someone else, someone other than Kakashi. What if Iruka would be happier with someone else? What if Iruka and him are just friends in this world, and that’s why Iruka’s apartment has been left empty to gather dust. Kakashi’s fears are assuaged quickly. He sees the genjutsu version of himself walk out onto the sundeck and kiss Iruka softly in greeting. Kakashi watches his doppleganger’s hand reach up to cradle Iruka’s face, and he sees a ring to match Iruka’s on his finger. The knot in Kakashi’s stomach loosens a little.

To break the genjutsu, Kakashi had been instructed that he would have to find the discrepancies in the world and pick them apart. So he watches and observes. But the only things he can tell are different are the rings, Iruka’s residence in his home, Naruto’s status as Hokage, and the fact that Kakashi’s clone will occasionally tell Iruka ‘I love you’. Kakashi realizes at this time that he is an idiot.

Iruka blinks, the white ceiling and antiseptic smell of the hospital rushing over him. The first thing he feels is a deep burning shame. A flush heats his face, and he braces himself for what comes next. He’s so stupid. He should’ve realized it was a genjutsu. Kakashi had never once said in all the years they had been together ‘I love you’. And now Kakashi had seen it all, all of Iruka’s pathetic little wants and desires, how desperate he was to a have something more real with Kakashi. And now Kakashi was going to tell him, ‘So sorry, this seems like too much trouble. Here are the divorce papers, have a nice life’. Iruka feels tears begin to well up in his eyes, and he swallows. He rather wished Kakashi had just let the medical nin let him waste away instead of taking him out of the jutsu.

Kakashi watches Iruka sit up, the white of the hospital gown stark against his tan skin. Kakashi feels like he’s going to burst. Heedless of the presence of Inouchi and Tsunade in the room, he throws his arms around Iruka and buries his face in his neck, and maybe more than a few tears escape. He whispers over and over again ‘I love you’ against the dark tan of Iruka’s skin.

Kakashi feels Iruka stiffen, he remembers that Inouchi and Tsunade are still in the room and begins to loosen his grip but before he can move away Iruka reaches up and tightly returns the hug.

Iruka whispers, so quietly it is almost inaudible “I love you too, Kakashi.” Somewhere in the back of his mind Kakashi is aware of Inouchi and Tsunade silently exiting the room, but all he can think about right now is the man in his embrace, who is still slightly groggy from the genjutsu.

“I love you so much, you know that right?” Kakashi says pulling back and cupping Iruka’s face with his hand. “When you got hit with that genjutsu, I didn’t know what to do.” He can feel his eyes beginning to water again with a new wave of tears.

Iruka sobbed. “Yeah, before I just didn’t think--I just didn’t think you were serious about our relationship. I thought I was just a placeholder until someone better, someone more suitable for you came along.”

“Not serious? Iruka, I proposed to you, of course I’m serious about you. You are one of the most important people in my life.”

“I know. It is just, well you never said I love you, and well our difference in rank is… substantial.”

“I don’t care about rank or any of that stuff,” Kakashi says, fiercely. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I thought that you would’ve known how much I care for you when I proposed. You’re not some place-holder and I’m not looking for anyone else.” Kakashi leaned down to rest his head on Iruka shoulder. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been more clear.”

“No, I should’ve asked or at least said something about it.” Iruka said, his arms encircling Kakashi’s waist again.

“How can I make it up to you?” Kakashi murmured.

“Well, I have some ideas,” Iruka smiled.

A few months later Iruka reclines on the sundeck of the Hatake compound relaxing after returning from a particularly tricky B-rank mission. The sun warm against his skin, and a ring is on his left hand.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a horribly self indulgent plot bunny i wrote in a coma at 4am// also all i know about naruto canon is from watching the first part of the anime, the wiki, and fanfcition //i know kakashi doesnt have the sharingan when hes hokage but... canon ? I dont know her. huge thanks to my beta Katelyn !!
> 
> also the title is from a poem by V. V. Mayakovsky


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